The role of the multifunctional antimicrobial peptide melittin in gene delivery.

Bilal Ahamad Paray, Aqeel Ahmad, Javed Masood Khan, Faisal Taufiq, Aslam Pathan, Ajamaluddin Malik, Mohammad Z Ahmed

Journal: Drug discovery today 2022;26(4):1053-1059

PMID: 33450177

Full Text on Elsevier Science View on PubMed

Abstract

Melittin is vital for the endosomal escape of nanoparticles, but its excessive cytotoxicity in mammalian cells limits its value as a potential therapeutic agent. Several novel analogs of melittin have been optimized and characterized to establish a non-toxic melittin-based gene delivery system, in which the sequences of the melittin peptides were altered to reduce their cytotoxic activity. This review focusses on the involvement of melittin in nanoparticle endosomal escape and on the construction of melittin conjugates to boost gene delivery. Endosomal escape mechanisms for melittin, as well as the development of melittin as a therapeutic agent and its potential applications in nanomedicine, are discussed.

Address: Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, PO Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.; Department of Medical Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Shaqra University, Shaqra 11961, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: [email protected].; Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Faculty of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.; Department of Medical Anatomy, College of Medicine, Shaqra University, Shaqra 11961, Saudi Arabia.; Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, Shaqra University, Shaqra 11961, Saudi Arabia.; Department of Biochemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.; Department of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2021.01.004

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MeSH Terms: Antimicrobial Peptides, Endosomes, Gene Transfer Techniques, Genetic Therapy, Humans, Melitten, Nanoparticles